Guide to Navajo Indian family history, and genealogy census, school, and agencies and their records. The Navajo Nation is 27,000 square miles and the nation has over 320,000 tribal citizens living in 110 chapters or communities.

The Navajo (Naabeeho, Navaho, and other variants) are the largest federally recognized tribes in the United States, or known among kinsmen as Dine'. The Navajo Nation is an independent government body, which manages the Navajo Indian reservation.

Like most groups, the Navajos relate their history to major events which influenced their people and family history information will usually relate to these events.

1858: Manuelito, an Navajo leader, discovered his livestock had be shot by U.S. Soldiers. He confronted the Major at Fort Defiance, claiming the land and water. Soldiers from Fort Defiance, with Zuni mercenaries, burned Manuelito's village and fields.

1880: Navajo Reservation expanded again in Arizona. Railway travel into the southwest creates new market for Navajo weaving.

1882: December 16, President Chester Arther removed some 4,000 square miles of land in northern Arizona from the public domain and made it a reservation for the Maquii (Hopi) Indians. This order formed the legal basis of the present day Navajo-Hopi land conflict.

1884: Navajo Reservation expanded into Utah

1900 and 1901: the Navajo Reservation was expanded into Arizona

1905: The Navajo Reservation was again expanded in Utah

1907: The Navajo Reservation was aging expanded in New Mexico and Arizona.

Just like any other civilization, precautionary steps were taken to limit intermarriages among immediate family members. The Navajo established family clans, with the maternal line being the predominate line. When introducing one self, a Navajo will provide their parent's clan and typically their maternal grandfather and paternal grandfather's clan, establishing their place in the world. Knowing one's clans is just as important as knowing the names of past ancestors and goes hand-in-hand with genealogical research. For a more detailed list of clans, a short history and a brief introduction, click here, clans.

When dealing with Native American records, you will come into contact with a number of governmental offices that have dealt with American Indian tribes. The three main level of offices included are, Indian agents, Superintendents, and Commissioner of Indian Affairs. The following is a very brief explanation of what these offices entailed.

United States and American Indian relations began with the first acts of the Continental Congress in 1775 which passed several ordinances dealing with American Indians. The first was to divide administrative responsibility into three geographical districts (northern, central, and southern) with the creation of a superintendent to govern the affairs between Congress and the Native peoples.1 It was often the case that ex officio superintendent of Indian affairs was usually held by Territorial governors who would help negotiate treaties and obtain titles to Indian lands.

Since multiple tribes lived in territorial boundaries, agents were created to govern one or more tribes or geographical areas. Indian agents were appointed by the President with the approval of the Senate. Agents were to report to the Superintendent, but at times records were sent directly to Washington D.C.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) was then created in 1824 as part of the War Department, to govern the affairs between settlers and Native peoples. Originally called, Heads of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, this title was later changed to Commissioner of Indian Affairs and has since been changed to Assistant Secretary of the Interior of Indian Affairs. When Natives were no longer considered to be a threat, the BIA was then transferred to the Department of the Interior in 1849, and continues to this day.

The majority of records of individuals were those created by the agencies. Some records may be available to tribal members through the tribal headquarters.They were (and are) the local office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and were charged with maintaining records of the activities of those under their responsibility. Among these records are:

The Navajo Nation's reservation boundaries has been changing since the original reservation boundaries were established in 1868. At the same time, governmental guardianship over these lands has changed. Currently, the Navajo Nation is divided into five agencies (Chinle Agency, Eastern Navajo Agency (AZ) and Eastern Navajo Agency (NM), Western Navajo Agency, Fort Defiance Agency, and Shiprock Agency) governing a specific geographical area, with the seat of government located in Window Rock, Arizona. Each of these agencies are further divided into smaller political units called Chapters, the number of Chapters have fluctuated over the years, but there are roughly 110 Chapters. Typically, Chapters do not carry documents containing family history information, and most will refer you to the Navajo Nation offices. In addition to this, many of the documents held at the agencies have also been transferred to National and Regional archives throughout the United States.

Like most civilizations throughout the world, geography plays a crucial role in Navajo life, mythology, religion, and history. In more modern times, reservation boundaries have been established by the United States of America on behalf of the Navajo Indians and over time those boundaries have changed. Learning local history can also help with understanding family history. Current boundaries for the Navajo Reservation is about 24,078,127 square miles, making it the largest Indian reservation in the United States. It covers parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. There are also three separate entities which are also under Navajo jurisdiction: the Ramah Navajo Indian Reservation, the Alamo Navajo Indian Reservation, and the Tohajiilee Indian Reservation.

Tribal lands are trust lands and as a result there are no private land owners, and all Tribal Trust land is owned in common and administered by the Nation's government. There are also BIA Indian Allotment lands which are privately owned by the heirs and generations of the original BIA Indian Allotee to whom it was issued. Tribal Trust lands are leased to both customary land users (may include homesites, grazing, and other uses) and organizations (may include BIA and other federal agencies, churches, and other religious organizations, as well as private or commercial businesses).
Below is a Navajo Nation Public Service Map

As stated previously, the superintendent of Indian affairs oversaw Indian agents. As for the Navajo Indians, at times superintendents were at odds as to whom held authority over areas occupied by the Navajos. Neighboring superintendents also assisted governing superintendents over the Navajos. Over time territorial boundaries also shifted and changed. The New Mexico and Arizona Superintendency are the main record holders for Navajo information.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs is commonly known as the BIA, and is part of the U.S. Department of Interior since they hold in trust American Indian lands. The BIA also serves 566 federally recognized tribes in the United States. For those that are searching BIA records, three main National Archives and Record Administrations are used:

There are two types of census records available for people searching American Indian records. The first is the U.S. decennial census records and Indian Census Rolls, both have identical information and some differences. Indian Census records were usually taken each year by agents or superintendents in charge of Indian reservations, then sent to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, as required by an act of July 4, 1884. By 1940, many areas covered under the Indian Census Rolls were soon incorporated into U.S. decennial census records.

As the result of a number of issues surrounding land, the federal government and especially with the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 (a.k.a Wheeler-Howard Act) which encouraged Natives to determining their membership and enrollment. The question set before Natives was, "Who is an Indian?" To help move the issue along, Blood Quantum was introduced as a requirement for tribal membership, allowing tribes to select the degree of ancestry for an individual to be considered part of a specific tribe. As for the Navajos, 1/4 degree of blood for membership was selected.

For those that were enrolled into a federally recognized tribe are given a Certificate Degree of Indian Blood or CIB and are assigned an Indian Census Number unique to each individual. Knowing your relatives' Indian Census Number can be quite helpful when searching the Indian Census Rolls and can help eliminate confusion, but not all Indian Census Roll takers included censuses. At times the U.S. decennial census taker would include Census Numbers in their records.

The National Archives Microfilm Publication M595 has copies of the the Indian Census Rolls, containing about 692 rolls dealing with a large number of tribes in the United States. It is during this time that Indian Census Roll takers were given instructions to include an individual's Indian and English name. By 1902 instruction was given that families should be given the same surname and that they should translate Indian names into English if they were too difficult to pronounce or remember. If names were too "foolish, cumbersome or uncouth translations which would handicap a self-respecting person should not be tolerated," or derogatory nicknames were dropped and changed.

When searching Indian Census Rolls, be mindful that they are divided into one of four main agencies (Eastern, Southern, Western, Northern, and some smaller ones), others can be found in other surrounding tribal census records (Apache, Hopi, Ute, Paiute, and etc).

Online verses Microfilm. Online Indian Census Rolls can be found at Ancestry.com (a pay site), this has all the benefits of searching records from the comfort of home. At this point in time they only have a few Indian Census Rolls available for Navajo records. Accessgenealogy.com does provide free access to Navajo Indian census rolls on-line. Searching microfilm at Family History Libraries (free) can be more time consuming, but can provide more information which is left out by on-line sites. On-line sites only include the names of individuals and leave out a wealth of information at the beginning of the census rolls; which includes special instructions and procedures by the census taker and even census maps.

The United States Federal Population Census records in regards to Navajo Indians varies by area. Since about 1885 until 1930, Natives were required to be placed on Indian Census Rolls, by 1940 they were incorporated into U.S. federal population census records. In some areas Navajos were placed on U.S. federal population census records as early as 1900, and are usually limited to Natives living in or around border towns. As most know, U.S. federal population census records are recorded every ten years and at times can also include Indian Census Numbers and can be helpful in tracking down ancestors.

One major issue when dealing with these records is that many of the Census takers were not Navajo speakers and some relied on translators for information. in addition, Navajo at the time these censuses were taken was still in the process of becoming an official written language and so many Census takers phonetically wrote names. Census takers often wrote generic names for people using Navajo terms such as; "At'eed," (girl); "Ashkii," (boy); and "Asdzaan" (woman) or Hastiin (mister or man).

When searching U.S. Federal Indian Census records their records are divided into reservation boundaries which include:

Historically, Navajo children have attended Bureau of Indian Affair schools (boarding schools), public schools, and contract schools (mission schools). Each of these have their own sets of records, some of which have found their way into archives and historical societies. The Office of Indian Affairs (now Bureau of Indian Affairs) was charged with providing educational opportunities for Navajo pupils and identifying them through school census records and other means. Some of the schools attended by Navajo pupils include, but are not limited to:

Newspapers provide a wealth of information besides local happenings; birth, death, and even marriage information can be found in local newspapers around the Navajo reservation. Each paper is held at a variety of libraries, depositories, and institutions in different states. Here is a list of newspapers around the reservation that deal specifically with the Navajo, but are not limited to this list:

The Navajo have a complex polytheistic belief system which dictates how to treat oneself, others, and one's environment. This belief system has helped them deal with numerous groups of people entering into Navajo country. As the Spanish penetrated present-day New Mexico and Arizona, they introduced Spanish Christianity to the Navajos. The Navajos called Catholic priests and missionaries Bi’ee’dahninnezi (Catholic: the one with long clothes). There are some documentations from Spanish sources which include Navajo names, but usually the names are too generic to pinpoint ancestors. Mexican documentation also has this shortcoming.

The usage of "Mormon" and "LDS" on this page is approved according to current policy.

By the late 1800's, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (aka the Mormons) began moving into and settling southern Utah, Arizona and western New Mexico. The Navajos called these people Gaamalii (meaning: the fat ones that are coming). Mission records, missionaries and settlers wrote a number of journals and diaries that can include Navajo family names. Baptismal records and Church membership records are harder to come by and are usually limited to Church members only. But, baptismal and Church membership records in earlier times are very limited as to the fact that when Navajos were incorporated into the Church, the Church did not have plans of establishing or maintaining religious contact with the Navajos unless there was a dire need.

As the United States gained control over present-day New Mexico and Arizona, they began assigning religious groups to the different tribes. Mainly the Bi’ee’adaałts’isi (Presbyterian or Protestants) were assigned to the Navajo reservation.

Navajo Indian Cemetery records and Some New Mexico Cemetery Records FamilySearch FHL US New MexicoCD # 1423 To utilized this CD in the Family History Library you will need to use a computer with a "patron desk top".